Stages 3 & 4The TSD that was handed out the night before followed the canoe
section. Teams were given a few moments to catch their breath
after paddling for an hour. With no time to waste, the clock
started again and off they went for the first of two Time/Speed/Distance legs. A perfect run for the TSD put teams at the beginning
of Stage 4 in 127.79 minutes. The bike leg of the Raid was held
on trails in the Chattahoochee National Forest and the course was
approximately 3.5 miles long. As teams arrived at the check-in point,
their times were recorded and they had about ten minutes to get
ready to begin their leg of the biking section.

Stages 5, 6, & 7Once teams completed
the biking stage, they were given time to load their bike before
being given the ‘nav-sheet’ for
Stage 5. This was a different nav-sheet than what was used in
Stage 1 but the goal was the same - to get as many points as possible.
Again, teams were given a deadline and coordinates for the beginning
of Stages 6 and 7.

Due to the delays
at the beginning of the canoe stage and other hold-ups, it was beginning to get late and
the obstacle course was greatly abbreviated. Stage 6 – the
obstacle course was a hill climb and descent followed by a mud
bog. Teams climbed a fairly steep trail approximately 80-100
yards in length and then descended down the back side of the
hill which was not as steep but had plenty of off-camber spots
and technical crevasse to drive through. At the bottom of the
descent was a 40-50 yard section of road that was 1-2 feet deep
with mud and water.

As teams lined up
for the hill challenge and mud bog (aka obstacle course), organizers
began setting up the “food challenge.”
In my opinion, this was by far the most difficult stage of the
entire Raid. Teams were served small portions of eight different ‘foods.’
Someone had been watching way too much “Fear Factor” when
they concocted this stage. The food stage included 1) pig uterus
(actually I believe it was fallopian tubes) 2) a whole pickled
duck egg 3) kim chi 4) pig liver 5) strawberry soy milk 6) Rice
Krispy and bird seed treat 7) a whole crab in the shell (a little
larger than a quarter), and 8) Fermented soy bean curd (the real
nasty stuff).

This stage was so
nasty that many teams did not even attempt a single food item.
A big congratulations (or dry heave if you
prefer) goes out to Team 05, Nate Murray and Brian Larkin, because
they were the only team to consume all the ‘snacks’ and
keep them down for the minimum time. There were a few teams that
attempted the stage but many quit voluntarily or, in some instances,
their bodies physically rejected the ‘nutrition’ (that’s
right…they BARFED).

Stages 8 & 9By the time teams
completed the obstacle course (Stage 6) and food challenge
(Stage 7), it was completely dark and there were
still two more stages to complete. It was time for a night “Navigation” and
night “Time/Speed/Distance.” As teams left to begin
the navigation we departed for the camp site with some of
the organizers. Once at camp we knew it would be quite a while
before teams would finish the TSD and be back. I believe the
first team arrived back at camp around 11 PM. Honestly, I have
no idea what time the last team finally made it into camp. As
teams arrived they turned in their ‘nav-sheet’ and
TSD sheet to the organizers. It had been a really long day and
scores would not be calculated till the next morning.

Sunday morning I awoke
to the sizzling sound and aromatic smell of French toast. Laura
Timms was already awake making herself
PB&J French toast for breakfast. If you have never had this
wonderful breakfast you should try it. Imagine a PB&J sandwich
dipped in egg, dusted with cinnamon and skillet fried till golden
brown – THAT WAS A GOOD BREAKFAST. Thanks Laura.

As I was enjoying my breakfast, Kyle began to tally the score.

Turnout for the event was fantastic with 18 vehicles entered.
Unfortunately, and surprisingly, only five teams completed
the entire Raid. This made the job of scoring much easier.
In First Place, Team 05, which included driver Nate Murray
and navigator Brian Larkin (driving a 2002 Nissan Frontier)
completed the Raid with a score of 546 points. \

Second Place
went to Team 666 with driver Tony Hirko, and navigator Wade
Long driving their 1977 Jeep CJ-7 to 430.5 points.

In Third
Place, driver Billy Wheeler drove his 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee
to 305.5 points with his navigator Jacob Emperley. See the next page
for complete scores.